Unleaded

I believe Joseph B. Scheller made a significant error in his Another View column May 6, "Simple tricks can save on electricity, oil and gasoline." He writes, "Another way to reduce gasoline consumption is to use premium grade gasoline." My 2001 Sable owner's guide says "premium unleaded gasoline is not recommended." A special report on Consumereports.org advises: "Buy regular gasoline unless your car specifically requires mid-grade or premium fuel. Higher-octane gasoline won't make a car run better or get better fuel economy."

Motorists are paying the highest prices for gas since October 2008. Retail gasoline prices rose on Thursday on an expected increase in demand and as more expensive spring and summer blends of gasoline make their way to the pumps. The nationwide average hit $2.799 per gallon, a penny higher than Wednesday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. In the Lehigh Valley today, regular unleaded is selling for $2.818, according to AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

Gas prices in the Lehigh Valley are on the verge of breaking the region's record high. The average price of regular unleaded gasoline at stations across the region was $2.04 a gallon Monday, according to a survey by the AAA automobile club. That's one-tenth of a cent shy of the record set on June 5. The national record was broken over the weekend. Gas prices soared 13 cents during the past two weeks, reaching a high of $2.07 for a gallon of regular unleaded on Monday. Some of the highest prices were in the West.

After nearly hitting the $3 mark last month, the price of gas in the Lehigh Valley has plummeted. The average price of regular unleaded gas in the region was $2.58 on Monday, 4 cents less than the national average, according to a survey by AAA. Some gas stations, such as BJ's Wholesale Club on Airport Road in Allentown, are attracting customers with prices under $2.50 for the first time since March. After hitting a high of $3.23 on Sept. 7, 2005, the price of gas in the Lehigh Valley dropped to a post-Hurricane Katrina low of $2.12 in early December.

To the Editor: When traveling on Route 222 from Allentown to Reading, starting at Moselem Springs, the gasoline is 99.9 cents per gallon for regular unleaded. Why is the gasoline 112.99 in Allentown? WILLIAM MOYER ALLENTOWN

Lehigh Valley motorists will pay less than last year for gasoline during the Thanksgiving Holiday season, according to the Lehigh Valley Motor Club. Prices for regular gasoline, which is disappearing from the scene as major manufacturers heed environmental restrictions on lead, was 88 cents at self- service pumps and 99 cents at full service, according to a survey of 24 stations taken during the week of Nov. 7. Unleaded gas cost 89 cents at self-service pumps and $1.01 at full service.

After falling sharply early last year, retail gasoline prices have risen to a plateau so far in 1987, averaging 85 to 90 cents per gallon nationwide. But prices are expected to start climbing again soon. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in 1986 was 95.5 cents, a decrease of 29.5 cents from 1985 and the lowest annual price since 1979, according to the American Automobile Association. The Lehigh Valley fit right into the national average with high prices between $1.19 and $1.25 for unleaded in December 1985 and low prices between 78 cents and 85 cents last December, according to Lehigh Valley Motor Club spokesman John Heeney.

Retail gasoline prices in the Lehigh Valley have dropped an average of 5 cents per gallon since December, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Automobile Association's Allentown office. But prices are still almost 7 cents a gallon higher than those paid about this time last year. The AAA's first fuel gauge report for the year was prepared for Easter holiday travelers. It shows an average retail price of $1.053 per gallon nationally, contrasted to the 97.4 cents average locally.

Theft -- Reported by Pleasant Valley Mini-Mart at Route 212 and Old Bethlehem Pike; driver of light blue Ford Escort about 1:20 p.m. yesterday filled car gas tank and several gas cans with unleaded fuel worth $28.08 and drove off toward Quakertown on Route 212 without paying; driver was described as gray-haired husky white male in his 40s. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 982-5411.

In the land where car is king, drivers may be gassing up for as little as 89.9 cents a gallon, and in the Lehigh Valley prices also are dropping, though not to the point of those in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, the major retail gasoline market for many oil companies, prices have fallen due to increased supplies that resulted from Californians making fewer trips to the pump in response to higher gas prices associated with the Aug 2. Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. But after months of small drops, prices nationwide are now very close to those before the invasion.

Who would have thought we'd be so happy to pay $2.52 for a gallon of gasoline? Just last year, Lehigh Valley residents were screaming bloody murder about $2-a-gallon gas. But $2.52 was the average price of regular unleaded gas in the Valley just before Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. And it was the average price on Tuesday. After a very expensive two months, the average price has returned to its pre-Katrina level, according to a survey of area gas stations by AAA. "It suits me. ... This is excellent," said a smiling Richard Seibert of Moorestown as he filled up his car at a Sheetz gas station in Whitehall Township.

Gasoline prices in the Lehigh Valley held steady over the weekend as it became clear Texas oil refineries suffered less damage from Hurricane Rita than had been feared. The average price of regular unleaded gas in the Lehigh Valley was $2.83 on Sunday, down about a dime from a week ago, according to a survey by AAA. It was the third straight week of falling prices. The average price nationally was $2.78, AAA's survey found. Prices peaked earlier in the month at $3.23 in the Lehigh Valley and $3.06 nationally.

The loudspeakers at the Wawa gas station on Airport Road, Allentown, played the Beach Boys' bubbly "All Summer Long" at one point Friday morning. But the blank, sometimes frustrated faces of drivers stuck in lines at the gas pumps told a different story -- one of summer replaced by a joyless and expensive fall. Drivers jammed gas stations across the Lehigh Valley Friday, trying to fill their tanks before Hurricane Rita hits the Gulf Coast. That storm could damage or cripple a sizable chunk of the nation's oil-refining capacity, possibly sending prices above $4 a gallon in some parts of the country.

Gas prices in the Lehigh Valley are on the verge of breaking the region's record high. The average price of regular unleaded gasoline at stations across the region was $2.04 a gallon Monday, according to a survey by the AAA automobile club. That's one-tenth of a cent shy of the record set on June 5. The national record was broken over the weekend. Gas prices soared 13 cents during the past two weeks, reaching a high of $2.07 for a gallon of regular unleaded on Monday. Some of the highest prices were in the West.

Bill James parked his motor home next to a pump at the Wawa Food Market in Upper Macungie Township and rang up $60 worth of gasoline. And that didn't come close to filling his 60-gallon tank. He was one of many big spenders during lunch hour Tuesday, when the average U.S. retail gasoline price hit an all-time high of $1.738 per gallon for regular unleaded, according to a AAA survey of 60,000 stations. That's a fraction of a penny higher than the previous record set in September. Prices in the Lehigh Valley are only slightly lower at an average of $1.703 per gallon, AAA reports.

I believe Joseph B. Scheller made a significant error in his Another View column May 6, "Simple tricks can save on electricity, oil and gasoline." He writes, "Another way to reduce gasoline consumption is to use premium grade gasoline." My 2001 Sable owner's guide says "premium unleaded gasoline is not recommended." A special report on Consumereports.org advises: "Buy regular gasoline unless your car specifically requires mid-grade or premium fuel. Higher-octane gasoline won't make a car run better or get better fuel economy."

Holiday bargains this month extend beyond the shopping malls. Travelers will find savings at the gas pumps, too. Across the country, gasoline prices have taken the biggest one-month drop since October 1994, according to the American Automobile Association's monthly Fuel Gauge Report. And industry analysts say prices are at their lowest in decades in inflation-adjusted dollars. In parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has dropped below $1 as retailers passed on wholesale price drops.

Gasoline prices are falling across the Lehigh Valley and the nation, providing relief to an estimated 32 million travelers over the Fourth of July holiday. Sacks Automotive, a Sunoco station on S. Fourth Street in Allentown, was selling regular unleaded Tuesday for $1.47 a gallon. Station owner Pete Sacks said that's 10 cents less than a week ago, and he predicts prices will come down even more. "I think you'll see it in the $1.30s," Sacks said. Tuesday's average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton areas was $1.55, according to AAA. That's down 7 cents from $1.62 a month ago. U.S. gas prices dropped 9.5 cents a gallon over the past two weeks and have fallen 13 cents in June, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations nationwide.

Tailpipes aren't the only thing fuming at local gas stations, where consumers are paying soaring prices. Lehigh Valley gasoline prices have jumped more than 15 percent over the past month, local fuel distributors and station owners say. Although the recent surge has caught many motorists off guard, gas prices typically jump at this time of year, said Bruce Ebert, president of Pipeline Petroleum near Macungie. Ebert said the annual springtime price spike is caused by environmental regulations that force oil companies to sell cleaner-burning fuel during the warmer months.

Gasoline prices are falling across the Lehigh Valley and the nation, providing relief to an estimated 32 million travelers over the Fourth of July holiday. Sacks Automotive, a Sunoco station on S. Fourth Street in Allentown, was selling regular unleaded Tuesday for $1.47 a gallon. Station owner Pete Sacks said that's 10 cents less than a week ago, and he predicts prices will come down even more. "I think you'll see it in the $1.30s," Sacks said. Tuesday's average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton areas was $1.55, according to AAA. That's down 7 cents from $1.62 a month ago. U.S. gas prices dropped 9.5 cents a gallon over the past two weeks and have fallen 13 cents in June, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations nationwide.